Author
Topic: question about bikes (Read 4702 times)

deejay

1st off, don't scare the dude away... this type of maintenance is for the life of the bike. Armor All your motorcycle tires?!? This is the worst advice I've ever seen. If you are putting armor-all on your motorcycle tires I suggest you STOP this asap. Armor-all has NO place on a motorcycle tire. You will crash.

Google "armor all motorcycle tire accident"

Straight from the Armor All website...Can I use Armor AllŪ Protectant Products on my tires; including whitewall, motorcycle and bicycle?Armor AllŪ Protectant Products are ideal for protecting, shining and cleaning your car tires. Just spray onto surface, let penetrate and wipe off for a great shine and long-lasting protection. However, these products should not be used on cycle tires due to slipperiness.

My thoughts are that this would actually be a good first choice for a motorcycle providing that you know it's limitations. It is not fast or particularly quick. Most new rider accidents are caused, I suspect, from too much power too soon. You can really get into trouble really fast on a bike. Remember, In a car accident you might get hurt, in a motorcycle accident you ARE going to get hurt, at least a little. I recommend a motorcycle safety course be taken. It will help you avoid some bad habits and help you out with defensive riding. Plus you generally get a discount on insurance if you take one. The bike maintenance thing. If you get all of the shop manuals, and you should, as well as pete snidal's manual you will be fine. It is not that they need lots of major maintenance, just a regular amount of preventative maintenance. It is a good way to learn about owning and caring for any special mechanical item. These bikes were designed when it was expected that you would have to do a fair amount of your own upkeep on anything you owned so they are pretty straight forward in that regard. Simple but rugged, not like todays machines where you are just about expected to take it into the shop to have it worked on for an exorbitant amount of money or trade it in for the next newer and more profitable goody. Now I am rambling, sorry. Seriously consider RE.

My '06 Bullet is my first bike. I'd ridden bikes a few times over the years (my younger brother had 3 over the years) and had also ridden as a passenger lots of times, but finally got one of my own. I can't think of any other bike currently made that would have fit the bill for me. I like the simple mechanics involved and it looks like a motorcycle should! I've owned and done my own work on old Volkswagens before, so the maintenance looked easily within my grasp. It's perfect for my needs which are short hops around town and something that, once broken in, can cruise the backroads for fun. I think that if you have a decent dealer nearby and are comfortable learning the basics (checking/adjusting points and valves, changing fluids, inspecting/replacing cables) most anyone could do well with a Bullet as long as they don't think it is a freeway bike. The only other bike I considered was the new Bonneville, but decided it was too big a bike for my needs (and also too big for a first bike).

1st off, don't scare the dude away... this type of maintenance is for the life of the bike. Armor All your motorcycle tires?!? This is the worst advice I've ever seen. If you are putting armor-all on your motorcycle tires I suggest you STOP this asap. Armor-all has NO place on a motorcycle tire. You will crash.

Google "armor all motorcycle tire accident"

Straight from the Armor All website...Can I use Armor AllŪ Protectant Products on my tires; including whitewall, motorcycle and bicycle?Armor AllŪ Protectant Products are ideal for protecting, shining and cleaning your car tires. Just spray onto surface, let penetrate and wipe off for a great shine and long-lasting protection. However, these products should not be used on cycle tires due to slipperiness.

DJ,

If you don't think it's safe to put vinyl dressing on your tires, I strongly recommend that you don't do it.

Try as I might to lean the bike further and further, I'll continue to ride on the tread - not the sidewall. I'll continue to protect my tires with vinyl dressing.

The post I quoted mentioned a 10 minute maintenace interval. I would guess that the average maintenance routine falls somewhere between that 10 minute interval and my own 16 hour maintenance interval.

If properly maintaining a motorcycle scares someone off, then they probably weren't right for the RE in the 1st place. But this way at least they know that maintenance will take somewhere between 10 minutes and 2 days.

deejay

If you don't think it's safe to put vinyl dressing on your tires, I strongly recommend that you don't do it.

I won't and I strongly suggest that nobody else does it either. There are well documented cases of this practice ending in disaster, most notably a recent thread on another motorcycle forum titled "death by armor all".

Try as I might to lean the bike further and further, I'll continue to ride on the tread - not the sidewall. I'll continue to protect my tires with vinyl dressing.

I don't think anyone was putting the armor all on the treads. The issue was when the bike was in motion, force from the tire spinning spread the armor all to the treads. I would assume waiting for it to dry for a few hours could cure the issue, of course until the tire got wet and spread the armor all to the treads anyway.

If properly maintaining a motorcycle scares someone off, then they probably weren't right for the RE in the 1st place. But this way at least they know that maintenance will take somewhere between 10 minutes and 2 days.

I totally agree with you, he just needs to know that this maintenance isn't specific to the RE.

my dad is getting a yamaha sometime soon, so I'll ride that I'll see. i really would want a RE, be because i don't a garage i need something that needs little care, thanks to everyone for advices, and I'll keep you up to date of what's going on

so yeah, my dad got a yamaha v star 1100 silverado, so I'll ride that for now

There is no comparison between the v-star and a bullet. The V-star goes in a straight line at a high rate of speed, but ,will be cumbersome iand sluggish n the corners with its longer frame geometry and 180 lbs of additional weight. The bullet would be much more fun in the twistys!